Order No. 15 dt. 12/02/2020
The case of the complainant in brief is that the complainant on being attracted by an exchange policy advertised by o.p. made contact with o.p. for the purpose of purchasing a Maruti WagonR VXI Duo-WMR4CDS from o.p. in exchange of his car WagonR LXI Duo exclusively for his personal use and for the benefit of his family members. The complainant for the purpose of purchasing the new car after availing the exchange policy paid an amount of Rs.5,000/- towards the booking amount on 08/11/2016. The o.p. being Maruti car dealer fixed the purchase price of the aforesaid new car at Rs.5,61,040.20 which included the price of the car, road tax, extended warranty, insurance policy, accessories, registration fees and auto card and the complainant has also mentioned the details of the amount claimed by o.p. The o.p. assessed the old car of the complainant at Rs.50,000/- along with an additional exchange bonus of Rs.18,000/- totaling Rs.68,000/- on 23/12/2016 and took the possession of the old car after being satisfied that there was no liability attached to the old car. The complainant ought to have paid the price of the car to the tune of
Rs. 5,10,996/- after adjustment of the exchange price of the old car of Rs.68,000/- but the complainant paid total amount of Rs.5,78,996/-. The complainant after purchase received the tax invoice of Rs.5,61,040/-for the said new car. The complainant is entitled to the balance amount of Rs.17,956/- which he demanded from o.p. but o.p. did not pay any heed and subsequently a copy of the ledger account was provided. The complainant repeatedly requested the o.p. for refund of the excess amount of Rs.17,956/-but o.p. failed to refund of the same amount. On the basis of the said fact the complainant filed this case praying for direction upon the o.p. for refund of the amount of Rs.17,956/- as well as compensation and litigation cost.
The o.p. contested the case by filing w/v and denied all the material allegations of the complaint. It was stated that o.p. had assessed the selling price of the said car at Rs.50,000/- and the exchange bonus at Rs.18,000/-. Due to credit for selling price of Rs.50,000/- for the old car has been given to the complainant after recovery of Rs.500/- towards pending traffic violation cases. After due credit for exchange bonus has also been given to the complainant and the same is reflected as exchange / loyalty bonus discount of Rs.15,720.52 which on applying VAT @14.50% of Rs.2,279.48 resulted in exchange benefit of Rs.18,000/- in invoice value of new car in the tax invoice bearing no. VSL16003813 dated 18/11/2016. After giving credit to the complainant for the old car and after adjusting the amount as paid by the complainant to o.p. against the price of the new car and other charges no further amount is due or payable by o.p. to the complainant. On the basis of the said fact it was emphatically stated that the exchange value of the old car has been adjusted with the bills / invoices for new car at Rs.49,500/- instead of agreed exchange value of Rs.68,000/-. Due to credit for exchange bonus has also been given to the complainant and the same is reflected as exchange loyalty bonus discount of Rs.15,720.52 which on applying @14.50% of Rs.2,279.48 resulted in exchange bonus benefit of Rs.18,000/- in invoice value of the new car in the tax invoice. In view of the said fact o.p. categorically stated that no amount is due to the complainant and thereby the case filed by the complainant has got no merit and as such, o.p. prayed for dismissal of the case.
On the basis of the pleadings of the respective parties following points are to be decided :-
- Whether the complainant purchased the car from o.p. in exchange of his old car?
- Whether o.p. assessed the old car at Rs.50,000/- plus exchange bonus of Rs.18,000/-?
- Whether o.p. received excess amount from the complainant?
- Whether there was any deficiency in service on the part of the o.ps.?
- Whether the complainant will be entitled to get the relief as prayed for?
Decision with reasons :-
All the points are taken up together for the sake of brevity and avoidance of repetition of facts.
Ld. Lawyer for the complainant argued that the complainant on being attracted by an exchange policy advertised by o.p. made contact with o.p. for the purpose of purchasing a Maruti WagonR VXI Duo-WMR4CDS from o.p. in exchange of his car WagonR LXI Duo exclusively for his personal use and for the benefit of his family members. The complainant for the purpose of purchasing the new car after availing the exchange policy paid an amount of Rs.5,000/- towards the booking amount on 08/11/2016. The o.p. being Maruti car dealer fixed the purchase price of the aforesaid new car at Rs.5,61,040.20 which included the price of the car, road tax, extended warranty, insurance policy, accessories, registration fees and auto card and the complainant has also mentioned the details of the amount claimed by o.p. The o.p. assessed the old car of the complainant at Rs.50,000/- along with an additional exchange bonus of Rs.18,000/- totaling Rs.68,000/- on 23/12/2016 and took the possession of the old car after being satisfied that there was no liability attached to the old car. The complainant ought to have paid the price of the car to the tune of
Rs. 5,10,996/- after adjustment of the exchange price of the old car of Rs.68,000/- but the complainant paid total amount of Rs.5,78,996/-. The complainant after purchase received the tax invoice of Rs.5,61,040/-for the said new car. The complainant is entitled to the balance amount of Rs.17,956/- which he demanded from o.p. but o.p. did not pay any heed and subsequently a copy of the ledger account was provided. The complainant repeatedly requested the o.p. for refund of the excess amount of Rs.17,956/-but o.p. failed to refund of the same amount. On the basis of the said fact the complainant filed this case praying for direction upon the o.p. for refund of the amount of Rs.17,956/- as well as compensation and litigation cost.
Ld. Lawyer for the o.p. argued that o.p. had assessed the selling price of the said car at Rs.50,000/- and the exchange bonus at Rs.18,000/-. Due to credit for selling price of Rs.50,000/- for the old car has been given to the complainant after recovery of Rs.500/- towards pending traffic violation cases. After due credit for exchange bonus has also been given to the complainant and the same is reflected as exchange / loyalty bonus discount of Rs.15,720.52 which on applying VAT @14.50% of Rs.2,279.48 resulted in exchange benefit of Rs.18,000/- in invoice value of new car in the tax invoice bearing no. VSL16003813 dated 18/11/2016. After giving credit to the complainant for the old car and after adjusting the amount as paid by the complainant to o.p. against the price of the new car and other charges no further amount is due or payable by o.p. to the complainant. On the basis of the said fact it was emphatically stated that the exchange value of the old car has been adjusted with the bills / invoices for new car at Rs.49,500/- instead of agreed exchange value of Rs.68,000/-. Due to credit for exchange bonus has also been given to the complainant and the same is reflected as exchange loyalty bonus discount of Rs.15,720.52 which on applying @14.50% of Rs.2,279.48 resulted in exchange bonus benefit of Rs.18,000/- in invoice value of the new car in the tax invoice. In view of the said fact o.p. categorically stated that no amount is due to the complainant and thereby the case filed by the complainant has got no merit and as such, o.p. prayed for dismissal of the case.
Considering the submissions of the respective parties it is an admitted fact that the complainant for the purpose of purchasing a new car made contact with o.p. and o.p. also offered to provide a new car to the complainant and the price of the said car was also mentioned as Rs.5,61,040.20. It is an undisputed fact that the complainant wanted to purchase the new car in exchange of his old car and at the time of negotiation o.p. being the dealer of Maruti Suzuki handed over a vehicle delivery note whereby it was categorically stated that the vehicle exchange price was mentioned Rs.50,000/- i.e. the value of the old car was assessed at Rs.50,000/- and the exchange bonus was also mentioned in the said vehicle delivery note Rs.18,000/- i.e. the complainant by handing over the old car for purchasing a new one was supposed to get the benefit of reduction of Rs.68,000/- from the value of the new car. The o.p. in their w/v did not dispute that the complainant paid total amount of Rs.5,10,996/-. After adding the said amount of
Rs.68,000/- the total amount the complainant paid to the o.p. to the tune of Rs.5,78,996/- but the price of the new car was mentioned at Rs.5,61,040.20.
The complainant asked for refund of the said amount, but o.p. in order to evade their responsibility for refund of the amount took this plea that Rs.500/- was adjusted towards traffic violation case. The complainant had also filed a document showing that he had paid Rs.500/- at the time of making negotiation for purchasing the said car and o.p. issued a receipt to that effect. The o.p. has also claimed that bonus has also been given to the complainant and the same is reflected as exchange/loyalty bonus discount of Rs.15,720.52 and on applying VAT @14.50% of Rs.2,279.48 resulted in exchange bonus benefit of Rs.18,000/- in invoice value of the new car. The complainant has not filed any document to that effect and in the vehicle delivery note it was categorically stated that the amount of Rs.68,000/- would be adjusted with the new car. On the basis of the said document the complainant demanded the balance amount but o.p. in order to avoid the payment of the said amount has taken this plea that the bonus amount was adjusted in respect of other payment made by o.p. but no documentary evidence was filed to that effect. In view of the facts and circumstances of the case we hold that there is gross deficiency in service and unfair trade practice on the part of the o.p. and as such, the complainant will be entitled to get the relief. Thus all the points are disposed of accordingly.
Hence, ordered,
That the case no.58/2019 is allowed on contest with cost against the o.p.. The o.p. is directed to refund the amount of Rs.17,956/- (Rupees Seventeen Thousand Nine Hundred and fifty Six) only to the complainant along with compensation of Rs.3,000/- (Rupees Three Thousand ) only for harassment and mental agony and litigation cost of Rs.2,000/- (Rupees Two Thousand) only within 30 days from the date of communication of this order, i.d. an interest @ 8% p.a. shall accrue over the entire sum due to the credit of the complainant till full realization.
